The Fight Against Counterfeit Drugs: Nafdac
The immediate past director-general of National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, Dr. Paul Orhii had prior to his exit from office been widely quoted as advocating for the enactment of new legislation to enable the agency cope with the present realities on the dynamics of war on counterfeit medicines among other challenges confronting it.
The former NAFDAC helmsman had hinged his call for a revision of the laws on the noticeable defects in the existing ones to enhance efforts of the agency to rid the country of unscrupulous elements.
We support Orhii’s advocacy because it borders on strengthening the operations of an important agency of government whose activities have direct consequence on the lives of the greatest majori

The spectre of cough syrup abuse among the youth in some parts of Nigeria as widely reported in the media calls for urgent attention from government and authorities in the health sector to halt the development before it destroys the future leaders of this nation.
The high demand for cough syrups containing opiate substances may not necessarily imply that cough epidemic is prevalent in the country. These medications are moving fast because drug addicts have discovered them as ‘’legitimate’’ alternative to hard drugs like cannabis, cocaine, heroin among others.
According to reports, school children at both secondary and tertiary levels including girls have taken to abuse of cough syrup for euphoric purposes. In fact, we gathered that these school children usually mix opiate-containing c

Editorial -
The House of Representatives have reportedly set in motion the process of amending the Counterfeit and Fake Drugs and unwholesome Processed Foods (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act Cap C 34 laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 2004, to give more legal teeth to it.
The new Bill which has already passed through the second reading according to reports seeks to achieve a prescription of life imprisonment with an option of N10 Million for importers of fake drugs; Seven-year jail term and an option of N500, 000.00 for dealers and their accomplices; forfeiture of drugs seized to government and compensation to relatives of victims.
We totally agree with the Honourable members of the House of Representatives on the need for a review of this law because the existing one seems to lack

President Muhammadu Buhari recently declared his administration’s intention to invest in programmes that would improve the capacity of all cadres of health workers to be able to provide quality healthcare services in the country. The President also assured that the Federal Government would review all previous agreements as a result of the welfare agitation by different groups of health workers and take reasonable decisions that would not impinge on the right of workers.
Speaking in Sokoto during the National Annual General Conference and Delegates Meeting of the Nigeria Medical Association, the umbrella body of Nigerian doctors, he also decried the incessant intra-professional crisis in the health sector. We wholeheartedly support Mr. President’s intentions because they are capable of lif

The recent visit of President Muhammadu Buhari to the Republic of China deserves commendation from Nigerians because of the obvious diverse benefits accruable to the country on account of that strategic move by the incumbent administration.
Apart from infrastructural development, rehabilitation of our ailing transport system, revitalisation of the agriculture sector which the trip seemed to have focused on, the policy of currency swap being entered into by both countries has the capacity of boosting trade and commerce relations much faster between Nigeria and China than the other agreements reached during the visit.
Interestingly, both countries had prior to the recent bilateral agreements been enjoying robust business relations, but the new policy would not only deepen the existing ...

The level of criminal activities in the country may seem ordinary just because the society seems to have settled down with it, but this is not to be accepted. Suffice it to say that many underlying factors can be contributory to this rising trend, studies have shown that apart from poverty and illiteracy, substance abuse remains a major influence leading to criminal activities of various sorts including even juvenile delinquency and hooliganism, etc.
The reality on ground paints a sorry picture of what the society is up against and there is no need to waste more time. Sometime ago a specialist at the Drug and Alcohol Treatment Education and Rehabilitation Unit of the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital in Kaduna, Dr. Ebiti Williams gave this illustration: For instance, over 6million bottles...

As Nigeria joined the entire world recently to mark World cancer Day, experts have drawn attention once again to the deadly scourge ravaging the world. The focus for now still remains on how cancer can be stemmed or put under control through preventive means.
In broaching this issue however, it is important to take home a few salient facts pertaining to the disease which cuts across races, age groups, and geographical zones. Cancer can be prevented through lifestyle behaviours, and we need to know what we can do to curtail the destructive impact of this dreaded ailment which cuts down an estimated 8.2 million people world-wide annually.
Cancer has no known cure that is cheaply available yet for the masses as sample trials are still ongoing in the USA for the one called Keytruda. While ...

If the tag ‘junk food’ is not enough reason to make anyone refrain from the indulgence of foods so labelled, then perhaps the definition of it should be able to make you think again: Junk food is said to be food that tastes good but is high in calories and having little nutritional value. Junk food is here with us and has over the years, silently wreaked havoc on our population without our knowing it. Junk food has been necessitated by the fast pace of urban lifestyle and of course, a backlash of our knack for wholesale adoption of western culture which includes dietary behaviours.
But the consumption of junk food has become a popular habit and culture that has transcended our urban society; junk food continues to leave its destructive marks even deep into our rural hinterlands. Research

Traditionally teaching hospitals are centres of medical training and research; they are saddled with the responsibility of training undergraduates and post-graduates of medicine, and related disciplines. Our teaching hospitals are supposed to stand out as centres of excellence - administering specialist care and treatment to the sick and injured, while being at the forefront of medicine and technology. But for certain reasons they have yet to come to terms with some of their ideal core competences as we perceive them: Teaching hospitals in our clime are just a part of the ivory towers; they are markedly distant from the people and the immediate community in which they operate.
Teaching Hospitals are the third level of referrals in the healthcare delivery plan; they are tertiary me...

Stemming the Tide of Hypertension Scourge among Young Nigerians
The ‘sudden death’ syndrome is not always a cause of witchcraft or spiritual attacks as some Nigerians are inclined to believe. Hypertension is largely responsible for several deaths.
Curtailing The Occurrence of Hypertension among young adults in Nigeria.
In recent decades our society has come under the siege of the debilitating effects of cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension, high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke and even hypotension. According to the World Health Organisation statistics, from the 2015 world Health Day, hypertension is responsible for an estimated 45 per cent of deaths from heart disease, and 51 per cent of deaths from stroke annually. This is very disturbing, and health expert

Editorial Opinion: July, 2015
Retail Chain Pharmacy – A No Go Area
For many years now we have observed that here in Nigeria market liberalisation has always come with its attendant negative consequences sometimes outweighing even the positives; here freedom is easily abused and the love of money usually tends to rule the day. And so the age long burning issue of (retail) chain pharmacy continues to be in the front burner of discussions and debates amongst pharmacists, government people and all the stake holders in the industry.
We strongly believe however, that the time and environment is not ripe at least for now, for the government to begin to broaden the space purposely for reasons of accommodating the interests of the proponents of such practice. Our thoughts border on strong re

Editorial – June
The tragedy of Ode Irele: the gods are not to blame
By Morgan Nwanguma
Education indeed is the best legacy anyone can bequeath the coming generation. Ignorance certainly was what played out, and is still playing out in that innocent and easy going little town of Ode Irele in Ondo State where tragedy struck just about a couple of months ago.
On national television, we see devotees and fear-stricken villagers alike, doing obeisance and performing all manner of appeasement rituals to some local deity at the shrine of the gods of that land. But from the visible signs and symptoms seen of the victims, there seems to be so far only one allegation of logic and reason – a poisonous drink. Any keen observer will notice a striking affinity between the locall